Malto language

There are two varieties of Malto that are sometimes regarded as separate languages, Kumarbhag Paharia (Devanagari: कुमारभाग पहाड़िया) and Sauria Paharia (Devanagari: सौरिया पहाड़िया). The former is spoken in the Jharkhand and West Bengal states of India, and tiny pockets of Odisha state,{{e25|kmj|Kumarbhag Paharia}} and the latter in the West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Bihar states of India.{{e25|mjt|Sauria Paharia}} The lexical similarity between the two is estimated to be 80%.

Mal Paharia language may have a Malto-based substrate.{{citation |last=Masica |first=Colin P. |year=1993 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=26–27 |isbn=0521299446}}

The 2001 census found 224,926 speakers of Malto, of which 83,050 were labelled as speaking Pahariya, and 141,876 spoke other mother tongues (dialects).{{cite web|title=Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/%28S%282scoev45b4mhlg45mz5jq345%29%29/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.aspx|publisher=Census of India|date=2001}}

Malto has a typical Dravidian vowel system of 10 vowels: /a, e, i, o, u/ and their lengthened forms. Malto also does not have any vowel clusters or diphthongs.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n2DxBwAAQBAJ&q=malto+phonology&pg=PA359|title=The Dravidian Languages|last=Steever|first=Sanford B.|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-91164-4|language=en}}

• The cluster /ŋʁ/ is pronounced [ɴɢ].{{sfnp|Kobayashi |2017|p=39}}
• Southern and western dialects have /ʔ/ instead of /q/ and /h/ instead of /ʁ/ and /ŋʁ/. Coda /ð/ is an allophone of /d̪/.{{sfnp|Kobayashi |2017|p=39}}
• /ʁ/ may actually be a voiced uvular stop [ɢ]. (Das 1973)

The general grammar of the language is not dissimilar from that of the surrounding communities. One interesting aspect of their culture influencing the syntax of the language is present in its assignment of gender to nouns.

The gender of words in the Malto language is classified as either being masculine, feminine, or neutral. The masculine form is present when denoting anything related to man or vicious deities. Likewise the feminine form is present for nouns denoting women, the Supreme Being, and minor deities. Although the colloquial term for father 'abba' is a traditionally feminine noun, it is meant to show respect. Coupled with the Supreme Being also being feminine, the respect for the women of the community is evident through their grammar. Otherwise nouns are referred to with neutral gender, which by far makes it the most popular form.

Seeing as how the literacy rates amongst the Malto people is very low, it makes sense that the language is not a traditionally written language. When the language had first been memorialized in writing (by Ernest Droese in 1884) it shared the Devanagari writing system as with many languages in India. The written portion of the language being supplemented much later on in its life, gives the effect of Malto remaining authentic through the dialogue of their culture.

Sample Text (taken from Source 11): నబిర్కి కెతబెనొ కుర్క్పెథ్ ఇణ్య్ కోడిథ్ టున్డ ఏన్ ఎణ్గ్కి ఛాక్రియన్ నిణ్గ్ అగ్దు తెయిన్: ఆహ్ నిణ్గ్ అగ్ అగ్దు నిణ్గ్ పావె మేన్జెహ్. డడెనొ ఒర్త్ కూక్రుకి సడిథ్, గొసణ్యికిపావెసర్యెత్ర​, అథికిగొట్డాన్డిన్ సొహ్జెత్ర ఆణ్య్ అవ్డప్ ఛొవ్, యొహన్నహ్ డడెనొ బప్తిస్మెఛహ్, అన్తె పాపెకి మాపి లగ్కి గుమెనారెకి బప్తిస్మ సబాన్ మెన్త్ర్ సెగ్యహ్. అన్తె యిహుదియ​.

Malto Story Audio Taken from Source 12: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ByAodEbhV34

{{reflist}}

11. https://www.omniglot.com/writing/malto.htm

12: https://globalrecordings.net/en/program/38320

• {{citation |last= Krishnamurti |first= Bhadriraju |author-link= Bhadriraju Krishnamurti |title= The Dravidian Languages |year= 2003 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 0-521-77111-0}}
• {{citation |last= Droese |first= Ernest |author-link= Ernest Droese |title= Introduction to the Malto Language |year= 1884 |place=Agra |publisher=Secundra Orphanage Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7b0IAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR4}}
• {{cite book|last1=Frawley|first1=William J.|title=International encyclopedia of linguistics|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0195139771|page=468|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC&pg=PA468|access-date=11 May 2015}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Comrie |first1=Bernard |date=November 2000 |title=Reviewed Work: The Dravidian Languages by Sanford B. Steever |journal=Journal of Linguistics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=640–644 |jstor=4176629}}
• {{cite journal |last=Tuttle |first=Edwin H. |date=1923 |title=Dravidian Z |journal=The American Journal of Philology |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=71–72 |doi=10.2307/289648 |jstor=289648}}
• {{citation |last1=Kobayashi |first1=Masato |title=The Kurux Language: Grammar, Texts and Lexicon |year=2017 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004347663 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9BCDwAAQBAJ}}

• [http://www.oocities.org/prabirkc/Malto.html About the Malto tribe]
• [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=new100&morpho=0&basename=new100\drv\ned&limit=-1 Malto basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database]
• [http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/mjt Endangered Languages Project]

{{Languages of India}}

{{Dravidian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paharia, Sauria, Language}}

Category:Agglutinative languages

Category:Dravidian languages

Category:Languages of Bangladesh

Category:Languages of India

Category:Endangered languages of India

Category:Languages written in Devanagari